Report - Rugeley 'B' Power Station, Staffs - 2017.

[Ojay]

Rugeley 'B' Power Station - 2017.

yoink

Construction of Rugeley B power station began in 1965, with completion of the station in 1972. Initially operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board, but following privatisation in 1990 ownership was handed over to National Power.

Following the closure of Lea Hall colliery on 24th January 1991, coal needed to be delivered by rail.

Rugeley B was now supplied with fuel via a branch off the adjacent Cannock and Rugeley railway line, near to its connection with the West Coast Main Line.

Rugeley B station used two 500 MW generating sets, which could produce 8,760,000 MWh each year, it also had a 400 kV connection to the national grid.

The station typically burned 1.6 million tonnes of coal a year, producing 240,000 tonnes of ash, the station's boilers produced 1,100 tonnes of steam per hour, at a temperature of 568 degrees Celsius.

Construction of a Flue Gas Desulfurization plant started in early 2007 and it was commissioned at the B station in 2009. This allowed the station to comply with environmental legislation in force at the time and continue generating electricity.

In March 2012 Rugeley Power Ltd announced it would be considering a conversion to run using biomass fuel and in December 2013, Rugeley Power Ltd scrapped the proposed biomass conversion as it wasn't commercially viable.

An announcement by owners, Engie in February 2016 to close the station in the summer blamed a deterioration in market conditions which included a fall in market prices and increasing carbon costs.

On 8th June 2016 @ 12PM Rugeley Power station ceases production of electricity to the National Grid, the closure resulted in the loss of 150 jobs.

Decommissioning followed at the end of June 2016 with the subsequent controlled demolition of the site

In other news, this place has its own 24/7 drive ‘thru what’s not to like

About time I stuck this lot up really as it's been gathering dust a while now..

I've passed this place on the train numerous times over the decades and often wondered what it'd be like inside, in the end it didn't disappoint

I actually enjoyed Rugeley, for a modern site it had some pleasing features, the site demolition is well underway now as sadly another one bites the dust

So we all know the deal by now, coal is scooped from a yard, and conveyed via a network of heavy duty belts (which have since been removed during the early stages of decommissioning)

iPhone tastic

It eventually arrives at the Coal Processing area and is dropped into huge bunkers, sadly my pics of these were gash so go and have a look at AndyK's if you haven't seen any before

Next up we had a mooch round the
Boiler House

Two Foster Wheeler John Brown coal fired boilers with superheaters and economisers; served both generating units 6 & 7

They produced 1,100 tonnes of steam per hour, at a temperature of 568 degrees Celsius

I only took a few cack hand-held runners despite having a good old poke about, as being a more modern station it was a bit bland compared to others I'd seen

Each unit had 7 pulverized fuel mills, fed from the 14 coal feeders situated above them..

Coal Feeders

Roller Seal Air Fans

Pulverised Fuel Mills

Ash Hoppers

From here, the
Turbine Hall

Home to two Parsons' generating sets (Numbered 6 & 7) with a combined capacity of 1000 MW dominate the main hall

• Unit 6 - First ran 09/01/1970, last run 08/06/2016 Total hours run - 285,595hrs (approx 32.6yrs) Total starts - 2,764 (2313 hot, 451 cold) Total generation - 125,776 GWh (average load 440MW's)​
• Unit 7 - First ran 15/10/1970, last run 30/12/2015 Total hours run - 289,320hrs (approx 33yrs) Total starts - 2,705 (2318 hot, 387 cold) Total generation - 123,501 GWh (average load 427MW's)​

I didn't manage a wide shot of the entire hall... here, the far end featuring Unit 7 and Condenser

(Almost looks like a cartoon with those rad colours and my shit Lightroom skills)

Unit 7 Turbines

Unit 7 Heaters

Unit 6 which had largely been stripped since closure

Unit 6 Alternator

Next stop, the bowels of the
Turbine Hall

It's amazing how a chequered floor can transform a place

Starter/Standby Feed Pump

Generator Transformer Oil Coolers

Unit 6 Rectifiers

Naturally we nipped onto the
Roof

 

[Ojay]

We looked in on the
Gas Turbines

Rugeley B is a Black Start station, equipped with 50MW of gas turbines (2x25MW) to fire up it's generating set in emergencies without any supply from the grid!

2 x 25MW English Electric Units powered by Rolls Royce Avons provide the epic here, epic being an understatement with these, @The Amateur Wanderer will be along in a minute to drool a bit more

UFF!

Sadly both units were being lovingly stripped, at least someone had pride in their work

16

17

Lastly, we checked in on
Admin

Sadly we couldn't venture too far as workers were using the canteen, besides all the doors into the good bits were locked

So we dived into the
Control Room

Fortunately it was unlocked, we proceeded with caution half expecting it to be manned (it is or rather was) luckily our man had gone for a wander and we must have only missed him by minutes

Once inside we set about grabbing some pics, expecting to be evicted at any given moment

It was tense and we could see evidence someone had recently checked in and no doubt wasn't too far away, also we did here some noises shortly after we left the room

Unit 6 Control Desk

Don't touch that dial..

Unit 7 Workstation

Engineering Worksation Between Unit 6 & 7 Control Desks

400Kv Control Board

Station Services Control Board

Lastly shouts to @AndyK @SpiderMonkey @PROJ3CTM4YH3M for a cracking day/night/day out, I think we ended up at some ridiculous derp the following morning making silly GoonTube videos

Pic c/o SpiderMonkey​

 

[Seffy]

Finally getting through some of that backlog of photos then??

Proper belter this mate - love it.

 

[Olkka]

This

Naturally we nipped onto the

We looked in on the

Lastly, we checked in on

Style of narration needs to be the new norm in all reports. Like i'm reading Ant and Bee

 

[albino-jay]

Awesome mate.

 

[raisinwing]

Awesome report. Thoroughly enjoyed my Year 5 school trip to this place.

 

[Bikin Glynn]

Excellent stuff that, the last shot is a cracker

 

[mockney reject]

Cracking, knocks spots off of the goon show we have seen lately

 

[xplorer.x]

Well documented and nicely done. Another one I'm gutted to say I have missed in its prime. Really enjoyed your take on this.

 

[Calamity Jane]

What a cracker, gotta love a bit of industry, love the lighting. That control room is something special as are the roof shots. really enjoyed this. Glad you've posted it now. Missing security by minutes what a touch, shame he didnt leave you a cuppa lol

 

[The Amateur Wanderer]

Nice show mate, loved Rugeley and her retro styling, one of the better stations in my opinion!